The present invention relates to an electrical power outlet intended to equip a motor vehicle.
More particularly, the invention relates to an electrical power outlet for connecting, to the electrical circuit of a motor vehicle, an appliance or an accessory comprising a male plug which is the complement of the outlet.
The most widespread conventional arrangement of a power outlet of this sort is that of the cigarette lighter outlet in the passenger compartment of the vehicle, the male plug then incorporating a heating element powered by the electrical outlet.
However, it is found that more and more vehicles are being equipped with different power outlets which are arranged at various locations of the vehicle, such as the boot, doors, glove boxes, etc.
This multiplication of electrical power outlets allows the connection of various appliances or accessories which must be powered by a current with the possibility of sometimes high electrical consumption.
Such accessories are in particular mobile telephones, components belonging to an acoustic device in the passenger compartment, appliances for cleaning by suction, etc.
According to a known design of a power outlet, it mainly consists of a body made of an insulating material which comprises a cylindrical container capable of accommodating the body which is the complement of the male plug, and which bears means for electrically connecting the outlet to an electrical power circuit of the vehicle.
An outlet of this sort is fitted by virtue of a cut-out or window formed in a panel of the vehicle, the outline of which is the complement of that of the insulating body, the outlet comprising a connector in order to connect it with a complementary connector belonging to a branch of the electrical harness of the vehicle.
Fitting a power outlet therefore requires electrical assembly and connection operations.
Moreover, it is found that such power outlets are fitted in regions of the vehicle which also comprise devices for illuminating this region.
An illumination device of this sort comprises a casing with a lamp, the casing being mounted in a cut-out in a panel of the region and comprising a connector for connecting the lamp to another branch of the electrical harness of the vehicle.
Thus, the fitting of a power outlet and of an illumination device in the same region of the vehicle involves a large number of components and leads to mounting and connection operations which are complex and many.
In order to overcome these drawbacks, the invention provides an electrical power outlet characterized in that the insulating body comprises a cavity for an illumination lamp, especially for powerful illumination of a region of the vehicle, and bears means for electrically connecting the lamp to an electrical circuit of the vehicle.
According to other characteristics of the invention:
the container of the insulating body is internally lined with a fixed contact sleeve and bears a first conducting strip which connects the sleeve to a first pin of a connector;
the insulating body bears a fixed contact pad arranged at the centre of the container and a second conducting strip which connects the central contact pad to a second pin of a connector;
the bottom of the cavity comprises a socket with two opposite poles, which accommodates the cap of the lamp;
the insulating body bears two conducting strips which connect the two poles of the socket to two pins of a connector;
the electrical outlet comprises a common connector for connecting the outlet and the lamp;
the common connector is a three-pin connector, the first conducting strip connects one of the poles of the socket to the first pin of the common connector, and the insulating body bears a third conducting strip which connects the other pole of the socket of the lamp to a third pin of the common connector;
the pins of the common connector are borne by an insulating support made as a single part with the insulating body;
the pins of the common connector are borne by an insulating support attached to the insulating body;
each pin of the connector consists of a free end of the associated conducting strip;
each connector pin is borne by the insulating support attached to the common connector and is electrically connected to a tab of the associated conducting strip;
the insulating body is a part moulded from plastic which incorporates the container and the cavity;
the insulating body comprises means of positioning and fastening the conducting strips;
the insulating body comprises an upper horizontal plate for assembling the outlet into which the container opens;
the cavity comprises an open face, away from the said bottom, through which the light flux from the lamp emerges;
the open face of the cavity opens out into the assembly plate of the insulating body;
the electrical outlet comprises an integrated switch for controlling the lamp;
the third strip is made in two sections between which the switch is inserted;
the electrical outlet comprises an articulated lid for closing the container;
the lid is an articulated closing flap, held elastically in the closed position in which it lies substantially in the plane of the upper assembly plate.